*ATLANTA – Music industry veteran Bu Thiam was sued in Atlanta on Friday for $3 million dollars after allegedly failing to pay royalties to songwriter Maurice “Verse” Simmonds.
The lawsuit filed in Fulton County requests a full accounting from Thiam and his company Bu Vision. The company signs songwriters to share in the income on their song placements. But, the lawsuit states that Simmonds, known in the industry as “Verse”, has not been accounted for his hit songs.
“I’ve written for the likes of Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj and Trey Songz, to just name a few and still have not been paid for nearly a decade,” Simmonds said in discussing the suit. The lawsuit requests that the Court order Thiam to place all monies in a trust pending the outcome of the suit.
“We have tried to work with Mr. Thiam and his representatives for over a year to resolve things and it is most unfortunate that Brothers have to end up in Court fighting it out over something that contractually should have been honored, i.e., paying the man what is due to him,” said Attorney James L. Walker, Jr. (@jameswalkerjresq) of Atlanta-based Walker & Associates which filed the lawsuit with his co-counsel Lisa James.
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The counts in the suit include breach of contract, fraud, failure to account (or pay royalties), conversion and urges the court to put all funds in a constructive trust.
“It is ironic that Kanye West and his manager Bu Thiam, the brother of rapper Akon are out here talking about black artists, bad contracts and doing our people right,” Walker reminded. “Well, let’s start that with ‘our people’ who are signed to contracts with Mr. Thiam like our client Mr. Simmonds.”
West, a very successful artist and business man, along with Thiam recently told news outlet, Rolling Stone, that he was the victim of a bad contract with his record label, although it was a standard deal, and has demanded freedom from his publishing deal and that all artists be empowered from bad deals.
He has explicitly stated that the music industry is comparable to a “modern day slave ship” and that he is dedicated to improving the music industry for artists. West has reportedly even taken on the task to help Taylor Swift get her master’s back from super manager, Scooter Braun.
“It is wonderful that Kanye is doing these things for artists and songwriters. I just wish his manager Bu Thiam would follow that example and do right by me,” Simmonds added.
A copy of the complaint can be viewed on www.walkerandassoc.com.
ABOUT JAMES L. WALKER, ESQ.
James L. Walker, Jr. serves as the managing partner of J. Walker and Associates, LLC, a firm specializing in entertainment and corporate law. In addition to litigation and negotiating contracts on behalf of more than 300 high profile clients within the sports and entertainment field, he regularly represents buyers and sellers in structuring, negotiating, financing and documenting sophisticated business acquisitions.
Walker holds undergraduate and law degrees from Howard University and a Masters in Divinity from Yale University. He has taught adjunct classes and workshops at the law schools of University of Connecticut, Yale, Harvard, Boston College and George Washington University. Walker is the author of This Business of Urban Music, the first reference book about the legal and business aspects of urban and gospel music, and has also been a regular guest commentator for FOX, CBS, CNN, and BET. For more information, visit: www.WalkerandAssoc.com.
source:
Amber Smith
Executive Assistant
Walker & Associates, LLC
www.walkerandassoc.com
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